when snow covered yesterday’s ice,
formed as the temperature plummeted
after a steady rain turned
Wednesday’s accumulation to slush.

What a drag she loses
a boot on the frozen drive
before having a chance
to put another log on the fire

he claims he didn’t start.
Another stale family joke
she doesn’t get.
Now would be an ideal time

to hibernate in a remote town
without access
to a back road shortcut.
They could rewrite the script

without fear of crashing
another party without a host.

One chip from one cookie
left from the last batch
he made without her input.
She never reads the menu

or removes the spider web
from the storage bin
above the cellar door.
He never removes the tag

from the sleeve
of his vegetable flannel
or bothers to zip up
the hidden duffel bag

filled with pine needles
and all evidence
that might link him to her
after another January thaw.